


Melancholia

by ClaraCivry (Kat_Of_Dresden)



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Because yes, Danny is sad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Light Angst, Nice horsemen, Self Confidence Issues, mostly just angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-27 00:11:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7595704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_Of_Dresden/pseuds/ClaraCivry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny is depressed. The horsemen try to cheer him up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Melancholia

Someone had outsmarted Danny, and it kind of broke him.

J Daniel Atlas has always been very ambitious and didn't handle failure too well. He wanted to be the greatest magician there was and he worked very hard to get there. Being better and smarter than anyone else, being more talented, that was the one thing that held his life together, that gave him purpose, that made everything else make sense.

He wasn't good at personal relationships at all, as Henley's abrupt departure had evidenced. He'd like to know what had become of her, but didn't dare make contact. She had a right to be free of him, and she had wanted to get rid of him, and who could blame her? He was arrogant, aloof and practically incapable of showing or returning affection, even with the people that mattered the most to him. He was a train wreck in the emotional aspect and even if rationally he didn't need to be competent there to succeed, it wasn't pleasant.

But he a was a control freak, probably something even beyond that description and it wasn't for pleasure or by choice. He needed control to keep his dangerously fragmented psyche in check. Yes, the great Daniel Atlas had many psychological problems, and had good days and bad days like everyone, but generally his control mechanisms kept them hidden. People just assumed that his personality was simply a mix of a dick and a weirdo. And that was only partially true.

The only thing he really had was his mind. His intelligence, his ability to pull off even the most complicated tricks, his always being smarter than the rest. And because every other aspect of him was so flawed (he was self centered, vain, unapproachable, controlling, demanding, occasionally mean...) that part of him, his intellect, needed to be flawless. It was his only redeeming quality.

If the others found someone smarter than him, then he'd become disposable, useless, a burden. And like it or not, even if he could make it on his own, he liked working with the horsemen and didn't want to be replaced. (Some people were surprised to find out how terribly insecure Danny was under that confident façade. He just knew how to play his role well)

So because of all this, if somebody outsmarted him, his whole world collapsed. At first he just lashed out and got angry, tried to retaliate, to undo the damage. But when the truth of the whole thing sunk in, that he wasn't the most intelligent guy at all, that he'd been played (again, and how times had this happened? Way too many) then a deep sadness settled in, covering every corner of his overworked mind.

Usually, he weathered the storm of this sudden melancholy alone, generally outside. Sometimes walking in the streets, sometimes in a bar, quite often near rivers or harbors, if they were near. But on this occasion he didn't even have the strength to put on some shoes, dress himself and walk out of the door. So he just stayed on his bed, on top of the sheets after a failed attempt of getting up, his head buried in the pillow, only opening his eyes to watch an occasional Star Trek episode to distract himself from...well, from himself.

Maybe another day he would have gone out, shown that idiot that had tricked him that no one was more intelligent than J Daniel Atlas... but today was not that day. Even the most solid building can crumble, even the biggest empires can fall. And that day, Danny felt he was merely and bunch of broken pieces scattered in the bedroom floor. The remainder of what once was and would never be again, wasted potential that would never amount to anything of worth.

In other words, he felt like crap.

The other horsemen had noticed that something was missing. It took them a while to figure out exactly what it was, but after some minutes they realised. Danny wasn't there, being obnoxious, or energetic, or controlling, he just wasn't there and hadn't been all morning. Which was weird. He was usually the first one up, sometimes even made breakfast. And he spoke, he spoke a lot, he spoke so much that his voice had become the unofficial Horseman soundtrack. But that morning, at eleven, there was silence.

“Is he out?” Lula asked.

“No, I heard someone in his room, I think he's still in there.” Jack said, trying to figure the situation out.

“Maybe he needed to sleep more?”

“I don't think that's it.” Merritt added. “He's been bummed out since he was tricked. He's probably just wallowing in his self hatred.”

“That's horrible. We should do something.”

And so, the horsemen spent the rest of the day trying to cheer up their most problematic member.

**1-Lula**

 She asked around which Danny's favourite dish, but nobody knew. They all actually knew very little about him, apart from all the magic stuff. So she decided to do her favourite dish, put it in a tray with a flower, knocked lightly and let herself in, all cheery and full of good thoughts. She was a bit taken aback when Danny didn't kick her out, even more when didn't complain when she opened the blinds.

“Rise and shine, partner! You missed breakfast and lunch so I made you one of my favourite dishes, it's...”

There was a mumble.

“What?”

“I'm not hungry.” Danny repeated, although it sounded muffled, even if he was on top of the sheets, not under them. He just wanted to be left alone, forget the world.

“It's okay if you're tired, but you should eat something.” She continued, sitting on the edge of the bed. She had never seen their friend like this, so... sad.

“I know we don't know each other very well, but you know you can talk to me.”

“If you knew me better you'd know not to ask. I don't talk about...those things.”

“Maybe you don't talk because nobody asks. Whatever, just tell me if you want to talk, okay? An eat, will you?”

It was a nice gesture, but Danny still couldn't get out of that bed. Accept the failure he felt he'd become. Better to stay in bed.

 

**2- Merritt**

When Merritt went into the room, the meal was still left untouched, Danny still on the bed, on his boxers and tee, looking like the picture of misery.

“Chin up, kid.”

And then he left.

 

**3- Jack**

It was midnight and Danny still hadn't gone out of his room, so he went in. He didn't really know what to say or how to fix anything, but he needed to say something.

“This is not like you, man.”

Danny didn't even to speak by that point.

“I wish I knew how to make it right, say the thing that would change everything, but I've never been all that good with words, or emotions, or anything like that.”

There was a silence.

“If it's about that man who scammed you.... no one but you cares about that, you know. We don't like you less because of that, we don't think you're dumber or anything. So... that. And you should eat something, Lula is worried. And me too. Kind of. I mean, it's okay to be sad sometimes...But you really don't have any real reason to.”

There was some companionable silence, just them, thinking about their own things.

After a while, Jack simply nodded and left.

 

:::

 

Next day he reappeared with a smile and many words and ideas to add for future shows and acts. The others asked him if he was better and he just played it off, said it had been nothing. Maybe the next time he would accept Lula's lunch, or tell Jack that his words had meant a lot. Maybe one day he would learn to communicate better... in the meantime, he had people who cared. It was good. It was nice.

And it would get better.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Not my greatest work, but I hope you liked it ;)
> 
> Requests are welcome too, if anyone wants an specific kind of Danny angst/whump which I can't write enough of apparently.


End file.
